A rare early bench composed of finely proportioned slatted makore-veneered timbers resting on a black enamelled steel frame with three triangular end supports.Circa 1952–1954

This model relates closely to benches designed by Day for Hille within the Interplan modular furniture system of the early 1950s. While published examples show two triangular supports, the present bench, with its extended three-support configuration, appears to be a unique or prototype variant. Its reduced height (32 cm) and depth (45.75 cm) correspond to the smaller Interplan version conceived for use as a bench, low table, or cabinet plinth.

A two-support example of this design was exhibited at the Milan Triennale in 1954 and at British Design Today, Frankfurt, 1958.

32 cm high × 228.5 cm long × 45.75 cm deep

Provenance

The Collection of Gordon & Ursula Bowyer

Literature
Lesley Jackson, Robin & Lucienne Day: Pioneers of Contemporary Design, Mitchell Beazley, London, 2011, pp. 60–61 and 106, for examples of slatted benches with two supports produced by Hille.